Fancy dress business boss Sue Goldman is used to her share of practical jokers.

And when an estate agent pal rang and asked if he could he drop in for dinner with Michael Jackson, she thought it was just another wind-up.

But the joke was on Sue, 45, and her husband Darron, 48 - half-an-hour later the King of Pop himself turned up on their doorstep.

It was an evening in December 2002 when Jacko arrived at their home in Jupiter, Florida. And Sue quickly sorted out music royalty with his own plastic crown and glittery gown.

The star - who died last month aged 50 - was visiting Florida in search of a new property. And after showing him around several sprawling mansions near Palm Beach, the estate agent offered to take his client out to dinner.

Jacko agreed but insisted on avoiding public places - so the agent suggested something more intimate.

Sue explained: "Our friend called out of the blue and said, 'I'm with Michael Jackson, can we come over for dinner?'

"I was like 'What!' I thought he was joking. It was the most surreal evening I've ever experienced, we still laugh about it." She asked the friend what she should cook for Jacko, who was travelling with his children Prince, then five, and Paris, aged four.

"I raced round to the KFC and picked up a large order of regular and extra-crispy chicken, then I grabbed some pizzas. Michael also asked for orangecrush soda, apparently he's a big fan."

Jacko and family arrived at 5pm with the estate agent and an unknown friend. "I ran out front to greet them," said Sue. "Michael was really nice and said how much he loved our house. Once inside he asked for a tour so I took him upstairs.

"We then sat in the lounge and I went into the kitchen to dish out the food.

"Michael was great fun, he seemed like a normal guy. He said he knew the Bee Gees who lived in Florida, it was light conversation. And he seemed a hands-on father, making sure his children ate something."

Sue and Darron had a female friend staying at the time with her young daughter. "There was six adults and five kids, including our two aged four and two, it was very intimate," said Sue.

After dinner everyone moved outside to the dock behind the family's house to watch the sunset. But to spice things up the couple, who run a fancy-dress company, asked Jacko if he and the kids wanted to try on some costumes.

"They excitedly said yes, Prince wanted to be a superhero and Paris wanted to be Spiderman" recalls Sue. "Then Michael said, 'I want to be King! ' We couldn't believe this was happening, the King of Pop wanting to dress up like a king.

"Darron went over to the store and picked up all the outfits."

After dinner Jacko expressed an interest in buying some costumes, so Darron went to his office to talk business. Then it was time to dress-up.

"The real estate guy was a pimp, my husband was Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars, Michael's friend was a knight and Michael was a king," said Sue. "Michael helped the children put their costumes on and I helped him with his regal gown. They loved it. I got the sense Michael loved to dress up and really played the part."

Sue took a few happy snaps of the evening including a group picture.

But secretive Jackson stopped short of letting her include his children - at that point the kids were still a guarded secret.

In the shot a huge dragon - a prop from the costume firm - towers over the group. Jacko's sat in an ornate chair clutching a Christmas card given to him by Sue.

She added: "It had a picture of my family on the front, he loved it and held it all night. Michael thanked us for a wonderful time and even invited us to Neverland."

It ended just before midnight with Jacko walking off still in his crown and gown. "He and the kids loved the outfits so much we said to keep them," explained Sue.